I am Sophie, a Swedish woman by birth but English by adoption. I have a little mud hotel in the beautiful and ancient West African town of Djenne, Mali. WWW.HOTELDJENNEDJENNO.COM Because of unstable political
situation, tourism has ground to a halt. Hotel still open! But hotel staff mainly working in Bogolan studio now: www.malimali.org check out our fab online shop!

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

A Cavalcade

Well, instead of the present being a time of solitary reflection during the
sad wrapping-up of my Djenné life, these months are proving to be so jam-packed
withimportant events that I have had
not a second to spare... One major event is rapidly followed by the next, all
deserving of proper entries in this journal! So I will just sketch out briefly
here all the things that have happened and are happening:

The manuscript library has had a visit in January from two intrepid
specialists who do not worry in the slightest about travel warnings: Michaelle
Biddle from the Wesleyan University in New England came to talk to Saadou about
watermarks and to teach the library staff how to separate pages that have
become glued together. She was accompanied by Maria Luisa, our Italian
conservator.

Then came my old friends, a rather glamorous trio of adventurers I call the
three Musqueteers: Nicholas Mellor,(centre of the toubabs) visionary and entrepreneurwith the cutestaccent
anglaisand Anthony Sattin, (right)
distinguished writer from England with le
charmant Axel Charles-Messance, the French drone pilot
and film maker I call TinTin. They were
here on a mission to teach local people to fly drones over the World Heritage
Sites in order to preserve cultural heritage in endangered areas of political
unrest. Theirs is a pilot project only at this stage, but with the potential to
be used as a model for other areas around the world. Alas we didn’t get very
far- that is to say, the Prefect (highest authority in Djenné) said NON. A
proper high level authorisation was needed to fly drones in the current climate
of heightened security. However, they managed to teach three local people and
make a small film: The rest will hopefully follow in March when they return
armed with the proper authorizations.

And what happened next? We moved swiftly on to the visit from Keita’s family
from Bamako and Segou for the ceremony to Keita’s memory; a Fatia or a reading of the Koran with all the Grand Marabouts de
Djenné, organized on our land by the library staff: Yelpha and Garba etc.
Everyone who had known Keita was invited and it was a solemn and moving
occasion: our old friend Dr.Guida Landouré came all the way by local bus from
Bamako just to be present. Keita's sister Djenneba to the right below; and centre front Keita's good friend Bamoye who has featured in this journal in the past: see 'Bamoye's Guitar' in the blogsearch above.

With all these peoplein Djenné from
Keita’s family we decided to have a party at night, and Maman took advantage of
the party in order to celebrate his wedding to Oumou. They have been married
for years and have a little daughter called Sophie already, but this was, in keeping
with Malian traditions, the second part
of the wedding, the part in La Mairie.

Keita’s best friends were invited to this dinner and we had the Balafon
orchestra from Souala village who had not been here for years: a fun evening
with much dancing from Maman of course, and Papa, as usual when he had finished
in the kitchen. Almost like old times... Hans, my Swedish Dutch friend who
comes every year happened to be passing through with his Lettish friend Maris, thus adding to the festive atmosphere.
And as if this was not enough, there was also Dr. Faira and the Cataract
operation team, who joined the evenings dinner and fun.

The following day, at the Djenné hospital, came the inauguration ceremony
for our fifth free cataract campaign for a hundred people given by MaliMali and
sponsored this year entirely through my cousin Pelle Kronqvist and Nanni his
wife. This year the operations were given in memory of Keita, his family was
present at the inaugurations ceremony and a minute’s silence was observed. ( Keita's first wife Mai third from right, and his daughter Nene with me below)

And then came Timbuktu... I had been invited to represent the Djenné
Manuscript library at a conference held by UNESCO on the pillage of World
Heritage archaeological sites and the illicit trafficking of cultural objects –
including the danger to manuscripts etc. So I went off happily in a UN plane for
five days in Timbuktu where after the conference we were regaled by the
crepissage of the 14th century Djingareber Mosque- a very different affair
from that of Djenné’s mosque, but with its own quite particular charm.

I was also invited to dinner by the wife of Saadou Traoré (our new
manuscript expert in Djenné) at his old house in the back streets of Timbuktu
behind the Djingareber one night. Madame Traoré sent her nephew with a little
motor bike to pick me up at nightfall at the Auberge du Desert where I was
staying. Only a motorbike is able to get through the small sandy alley ways of
Timbuktu: the following morning I received a telling off by UNESCO and UN personnel
who were absolutely horrified that I had been riding around Timbuktu on the
back of a local’s motorcycle, and had returned back way after the kerfew... I was
not aware that there was a kerfew even!

Returned happily to Djenné yesterday and having a few days to recover from
all this excitement before leaving for Bamako on the bus on Saturday morning. I
am meeting a Swedish Documentary film crew who are going to spend ten days with
me: making a film about me and my life! Oh dear. I am going to have to be fascinating
for ten days in a row...

What about Boubakar? Not mentioned above, unless I'm reading carelessly. Did Maman and his wife name their daughter Sophie in your honour? And good old Guida, such a friend. Shall never forget his Malian banquet here...

I am worried about Boubakar because he is old and if the hotel had been running properly I would have been able to give him a pension so that he could retire. Maman and Oumou named their daughter Sophie as a compliment to me, but no doubt also with the hope that I might take an interest in her in the future... I have not so far I am afraid. There is Keita's children first...Guida is great, indeed! He sent over a young nephew with about a gallon of freshly milked cows milk to the hotel the evening of the Fatia, a traditional gift here amongst the Fulani and the Diawando, Guida's tribe, a sort of Fulani sub division.

Thank you Patrick, you are from the film team? Looking forward to meeting you too! Pascal et Monique: merci et a bientot à Lyon inshallah! And David, I rather missed out on those famous Swedes I'm afraid I was far away in the highlands of Papua New Guinea in their heyday...

Plenty of DVDs to watch in your Djenne Djenno fastness, though; they've not stood the test of time well. Whereas the songs, of course, are forever. Nice that you can namedrop about Papua, though. Was that the coffee plantation time?

Was that name dropping? if you say so. I was in Papua on a tea plantation with my first English husband. But we used to go to to a coffee plantation, ULYA, and that remains one of the wonders of my world...more about that another time.

Hello Gardenia! Just saw your comment.Oh, that garden at ULYA!Keita's eldest son Moussa in fifteen, then comes Lassina, his thirteen year old son and Néné his eight year old daughter.I do see them- perhaps once a month and they spend some of their school holidays here in Djenné.